Polanski's account on the social media platform was obtained over the weekend by what appeared to be a cryptocurrency scam replacing the politician's avatar and header image and posting links to an external site.
Shortly after Polanski sent Recorded Future News his statement, the account was restored.
The commandeering of politicians' accounts could pose an election integrity risk in the United Kingdom, which is expected to go to the polls later this year.
Polanski's account takeover mirrors another last week in which a Canadian senator had their X account hijacked to spread a similar scam.
The account of Google-owned cybersecurity firm Mandiant was also appropriated by someone sharing links to a cryptocurrency platform.
It is not yet clear how these accounts have been hijacked.
Researchers say that dark web forums and marketplaces are increasingly selling access to hijacked X accounts that have been verified with specialized tags - such as the gray tick given to politician and government accounts.
Last month, two researchers discovered vulnerabilities in X they said would allow anyone to take over an account that were not addressed for weeks by the social media site's team.
Chaofan Shou, a PhD student at the University of California, Berkeley, told Recorded Future News that the company never replied to his email about the issue.
Criticism of the company is growing regarding its ability to protect its users from account takeovers, as well as inauthentic content spamming their timelines, following Elon Musk's purchase of the site and sacking of hundreds of security employees.
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He was previously a technology reporter for Sky News and is also a fellow at the European Cyber Conflict Research Initiative.
This Cyber News was published on therecord.media. Publication date: Tue, 09 Jan 2024 15:55:05 +0000